1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a connector used for connecting wiring harnesses and more particularly to a connector structure having a terminal locking block mounted to a connector housing for secure locking of terminal lugs inserted into the connector housing.
2. Prior Art
In FIGS. 7, 8a and 8b, a connector housing a formed of synthetic resin has a plurality of terminal accommodating chambers b arranged in upper and lower tiers. Each of the terminal accommodating chambers b has its top and bottom outer walls c cut with slits c.sub.1 to form a resilient engagement piece d that is to engage with the terminal lug. Terminal lugs e are inserted from behind into the terminal accommodating chambers b until they are held by the resilient engagement pieces d. Then to make the terminal lug engagement more reliable, terminal locking blocks f are placed on the top and bottom walls of the connector housing a and pushed into engagement with them by engaging engagement arms f.sub.1 with projections g so that locking projections h formed on the terminal locking blocks f advance into the terminal accommodating chambers b through windows c.sub.2 to support engagement projections d.sub.1 formed at the free end of the resilient engagement pieces d.
In the above-mentioned conventional connector, with the terminal locking block f dismounted, the terminal lug e is inserted into the terminal accommodating chamber b to be engaged with the resilient engagement piece d. Hence, it is possible to check through the window c.sub.2 if the terminal lug c is completely inserted. On the other hand, the prior art connector has the drawback that an assembly worker may forget to attach the terminal locking block f, which is completely separate from the connector housing a. Furthermore, the attaching of the terminal locking block f to the connector housing a is not an easy work.
Another drawback is that, as shown in FIG. 9, when a jig i is used to force up the resilient engagement piece d to disengage the terminal lug e and pull it back from the connector housing, the assembly worker may easily pry open the resilient engagement d excessively as shown by a broken line, which may result in breakage.